Georgia
     Milestones
            Assessment System                                          Guide
                  Assessment Guide
                      Geometry
                                                                       Assessment 
                      Copyright © 2017 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved.
                                        Table of Contents
         THE GEORGIA MILESTONES ASSESSMENT SYSTEM.....................................3
              GEORGIA MILESTONES END-OF-COURSE (EOC) ASSESSMENTS.........................4
              ASSESSMENT GUIDE ........................................................5
         TESTING SCHEDULE .............................................................6
         TEST STRUCTURE ...............................................................7
              DESCRIPTION OF TEST FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION.................................7
              CONTENT MEASURED........................................................8
              ITEM TYPES .............................................................10
              DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE DESCRIPTORS.........................................10
         SCORES ....................................................................14
         EXAMPLE ITEMS..............................................................15
         ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEMS.....................................................19
              ADDITIONAL SAMPLE ITEM KEYS .............................................32
              EXAMPLE SCORING RUBRICS AND EXEMPLAR RESPONSES .........................34
                             Copyright © 2017 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved.
                                                                                         The Georgia Milestones Assessment System
                                      THE GEORGIA MILESTONES 
                                           ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
              The purpose of the Georgia Student Assessment Program is to measure student 
              achievement of the state-adopted content standards and inform efforts to improve 
              teaching and learning. Results of the assessment program are utilized to identify 
              students failing to achieve mastery of content, to provide educators with feedback 
              about instructional practice, and to assist school districts in identifying strengths and 
              weaknesses in order to establish priorities in planning educational programs.
              The State Board of Education is required by Georgia law (O.C.G.A. §20-2-281) to adopt 
              assessments designed to measure student achievement relative to the knowledge 
              and skills set forth in the state-adopted content standards. The Georgia Milestones 
              Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) fulfills this requirement and, as a key 
              component of Georgia’s Student Assessment Program, is a comprehensive summative 
              assessment program spanning Grade 3 through high school. Georgia Milestones 
              measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the 
              state-adopted content standards in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social 
              Studies. Students in grades 3 through 8 take an end-of-grade assessment in English 
              Language Arts and Mathematics, while students in grades 5 and 8 also take an end-
              of-grade assessment in Science and Social Studies. High school students take an 
              end-of-course assessment for each of the ten courses designated by the State Board 
              of Education. In accordance with State Board Rule, Georgia Milestones end-of-course 
              measures serve as the final exams for the specified high school courses.
              The main purpose of Georgia Milestones is to inform efforts to improve student 
              achievement by assessing student performance on the standards specific to each 
              course or subject/grade tested. Specifically, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide 
              students and their parents with critical information about the students’ achievement 
              and, importantly, their preparedness for the next educational level. The assessment 
              system is a critical informant of the state’s accountability measure, the College and 
              Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), providing an important gauge about the 
              quality of the educational services and opportunities provided throughout the state. 
              The ultimate goal of Georgia’s assessment and accountability system is to ensure that 
              all students are provided the opportunity to engage with high-quality content standards, 
              receive high-quality instruction predicated upon those standards, and are positioned to 
              meet high academic expectations.
              Features of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System include:
              •    technology-enhanced items in English Language Arts and Mathematics (all grades 
                   and courses);
              •    open-ended (constructed-response) items in English Language Arts and 
                   Mathematics (all grades and courses);
              •    a writing component (in response to passages read by students) at every grade 
                   level and course within the English Language Arts assessment;
              •    norm-referenced items in all content areas and courses to complement the 
                   criterion-referenced information and to provide a national comparison; and
              Georgia Milestones Geometry EOC Assessment Guide                                                                  Page 3 of 40
                                             Copyright © 2017 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved.
              The Georgia Milestones Assessment System
                                   •    a transition to online administration over time, with online administration considered 
                                        the primary mode of administration and paper/pencil as a backup until the 
                                        transition is complete.
                                   The primary mode of administration for the Georgia Milestones program is online, 
                                   with the goal of completing the transition from paper/pencil within five years after the 
                                   inaugural administration (i.e., the 2014–2015 school year). Paper/pencil test materials 
                                   (such as Braille) will remain available for students with disabilities who may require 
                                   them in order to access the assessment.
                                   Georgia Milestones follows guiding principles to help ensure that the assessment 
                                   system:
                                   •    is sufficiently challenging to ensure Georgia students are well positioned to 
                                        compete with other students across the United States and internationally;
                                   •    is intentionally designed across grade levels to send a clear signal of student 
                                        academic progress and preparedness for the next level, whether it is the next grade 
                                        level, course, or college or career;
                                   •    is accessible to all students, including those with disabilities or limited English 
                                        proficiency, at all achievement levels;
                                   •    supports and informs the state’s educator-effectiveness initiatives, ensuring items 
                                        and forms are appropriately sensitive to quality instructional practices; and
                                   •    accelerates the transition to online administration, allowing—over time—for the 
                                        inclusion of innovative technology-enhanced items.
                                   GEORGIA MILESTONES END-OF-COURSE (EOC) 
                                   ASSESSMENTS
                                   As previously mentioned, Georgia law (§20-2-281) mandates that the State Board of 
                                   Education adopt EOC assessments for core courses to be determined by the Board. 
                                   An EOC assessment serves as a student’s final exam in the associated course.  
                                   With educator input and State Board approval, the Georgia Milestones EOC 
                                   assessments measure student achievement in the following courses: Ninth Grade 
                                   Literature and Composition, American Literature and Composition, Algebra I, Geometry, 
                                   Coordinate Algebra, Analytic Geometry, Physical Science, Biology, United States History, 
                                   and Economics/Business/Free Enterprise.
                                   Any student enrolled in and/or receiving credit for one of the above-mentioned courses, 
                                   regardless of grade level, is required to take the Georgia Milestones EOC assessment 
                                   upon completion of that course. This includes middle school students completing a 
                                   course associated with a Georgia Milestones EOC assessment, regardless of whether 
                                   they are receiving high school credit. Students enrolling from non-accredited programs 
                                   are required to take and pass the Georgia Milestones EOC assessment prior to 
                                   receiving credit for the course.
                                   A student’s final grade in the course will be calculated using the Georgia Milestones 
                                   EOC assessment as follows (State Board Rule 160-4-2-.13):
                                   •    For students enrolled in Grade 9 for the first time before July 1, 2011, the EOC 
                                        assessment counts as 15% of the final grade.
                                   •    For students enrolled in Grade 9 for the first time on or after July 1, 2011, the EOC 
                                        assessment counts as 20% of the final grade.
              Page 4 of 40                                                    Georgia Milestones Geometry EOC Assessment Guide
                                              Copyright © 2017 by Georgia Department of Education. All rights reserved.